Family hauls in 1,011 pound alligator, setting Alabama record

A family in the US state of Alabama hauled in a monster alligator over the weekend, setting a new record for size in the southern state, media reports said Monday.

The 15-foot (4.5-meter) animal weighing 1,011.5 pounds (459 kilograms) struggled for hours in the Alabama River against a group of relatives who turned catching it into a family affair, news website AL.com reported.

The news portal said the alligator was the largest legally hunted gator ever recorded in the state and compared in size with the biggest on record throughout the US South where the species lives.

John and Mandy Stokes, plus their two children and a brother-in-law, said it was the first time they had requested a permit to hunt alligators.

“Right now the fairest way for me to say it is that we’ll apply (for a permit) again,” Mandy Stokes told the website.

“But I can assure you, I have no desire to hook into anything like this again. I truly don’t,” she added.

The alligator was so big it broke the mechanism used to hoist it and a backhoe had to be used to lift it to be weighed.

The gator was measured at a check station by Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries officials at the Roland Cooper State Park where it was caught.